'Always crying' - Courtois 'fed up' of Atletico Madrid complaints
Real Madrid booked their place in the quarter-finals of the Champions League after a dramatic penalty shootout win against Atletico Madrid.
Thibaut Courtois is "fed up" with Atletico Madrid complaining about refereeing decisions after Real Madrid's contentious penalty shootout win.
Real booked their place in the quarter-finals with a 4-2 spot-kick win at Metropolitano Stadium on Wednesday after the tie finished 2-2 on aggregate.
Julian Alvarez thought he had levelled the shootout at 2-2, only for VAR to rule the penalty out after adjudging he had touched the ball twice.
Diego Simeone was furious at the officials after the match, insisting there was not a single angle of the incident to back up that decision.
However, Real goalkeeper Courtois defended the match officials and told former side Atletico to just accept the defeat.
"I'm always fed up with that victimhood, always crying over things like that," he told reporters.
"Referees don't want to benefit a team, neither in Spain nor in Europe, they saw it clearly and they called it that way.
"They're human, and with technology, they saw it clearly."
00:27 - Conor Gallagher's opening goal for Atlético Madrid against Real Madrid after 27 seconds is the fastest goal ever scored by an Englishman in the history of the UEFA Champions League. Vamos. pic.twitter.com/dCtZ5NbV8o
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 12, 2025
Connor Gallagher scored the only goal of the second leg after just 27 seconds, but neither side could find a winner as the game went the distance.
Real's fourth penalty shootout win in the European Cup and Champions League is the outright most of any club.
"If you're winning 1-0 in the first minute and don't go for the second, that's the fault of their game," Courtois added.
"In the end, it was a lottery. I felt like it was a double, and I told the referee. It's not easy to see, and it's bad luck for them."
Fellow Madrid player Dani Ceballos, who played no part in the tie, also appeared to take a swipe at Simeone on social media.
Ceballos shared a video of Simeone's earlier press conference, titled "cinema", and accompanied it with a raised hand emoji.
Real have now knocked Atletico out of the Champions League, including finals, five times – only Bayern Munich (seven times against Los Blancos) have been eliminated more times by a single opponent.